The invention relates to electrically identifiable electrode leads and methods of electrically identifying medical electrode leads, such as an implantable medical electrode lead. An exemplary implantable medical electrode lead can be used with an implantable pulse generator (IPG) of an electrical stimulation system.
When a physician implants multiple leads and connects them to an IPG, for example, the positions of the leads and the characteristics of the individual leads may be unknown, for example to the clinician programmer. Thus, confusion may arise of what locations and characteristics of the individual leads relate to what stimulation channel, after they have been implanted.
Currently, when information about implanted leads is recorded, it is typically done manually and before the implantation has occurred. For example, during surgery, a lead packaging will be opened and the brand, model, and serial number recorded by hand into the patient's medical record or into a clinician programmer device. Further, a manual assignment is required of the lead connected to the bore of the IPG header. These manual entries leave room for error in the process of recording information and may lead to false stimulation programming. Thus, what is needed are means and methods for accurately, quickly, and reliably determining what types of leads are connected to an IPG and their respective positions within the patient.